Posted on 08/01/2007 11:30:14 AM PDT by Impeach98
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Posted By:
Melanie Morgan
Permalink Why Bill O’Reilly’s Attack on FreeRepublic.com are Unfair
Bill O’Reilly’s been making waves the past few weeks by focusing on the prevalance of ‘hateful’ content at the liberal website, Daily Kos. O’Reilly is particularly disturbed to see Democratic presidential candidates agreeing to speak at the annual YearlyKos convention that will take place August 2nd through 5th.
To show balance in his reporting, O’Reilly has unfortunately chosen to target the good people who visit the conservative website, www.FreeRepublic.com. Last night O’Reilly had on his show a friend of mine, Kristinn Taylor, who is a spokesperson for Free Republic, to defend the website from O’Reilly’s criticisms.
To his credit, O’Reilly noted that the amount of controversial content at FreeRepublic pales in comparison to that which appears on a near-daily basis at DailyKos.
As someone who visits FreeRepublic each day, and as someone who has contributed to the website’s fundraising drives, I feel compelled to speak out in defense of FreeRepublic from the critical comments made by O’Reilly.
FreeRepublic.com was launched in the infancy of the Internet, serving as a source for the sharing of news stories from around the world, and the chance to have an open dialogue on these stories. Soon thereafter, FReepers (as they are known), used the website to also organize grass roots efforts to allow patriotic Americans to mobilize efforts to make their voices heard in the public square.
As the Chairman of Move America Forward, the nation’s largest pro-troop organization, I’ve seen the impact that such efforts have had. Thousands upon thousands of proud, decent Americans who love their country have become informed of Move America Forward’s countless pro-troop rallies, care package shipments and calls for help to assist the heroic men and women of the United States military thanks to Free Republic.
To equate these decent and noble efforts with those of a website like DailyKos, which routinely denounces the U.S. military and the foundations of liberty that this nation cherishes, is dishonest and unfair.
I won’t stand for that, and I urge all the members and supporters of Move America Forward to show solidarity with the great Americans who participate at FreeRepublic forums.
..........
This September FReepers will once again use the FreeRepublic website to organize public displays of support for our troops and their missions in the War on Terror. This is the kind of good work these people do each and every day, and that deserves the respect and support from all of us who cherish this country and the leadership our nation provides in fighting the forces of tyranny and terrorism.
-- Melanie Morgan
Chairman, Move America Forward
www.MoveAmericaForward.org
That’s too bad because Melanie has done much more for the troops and their mission that Mr. No spin.
I always marvel at pundits/commentators/hosts who attack their own constituencies/audiences.
Yes; I believe an employee taped him getting nasty with himself and his vibrator while speaking to her on the phone. She was an unwilling listener. He apparently did this repeatedly, while his wife had just given birth or was very pregnant.
The best part was him panting and saying he would be rubbing her down with a falafel in the shower. Watch the hummus!
This part of why BOR is doing this.KOS has never let up on him by posting parts of the civil lawsuit pleadings.His attacks on FR are a diversion.
I have never heard ANY FReeper refer to homosexuals as “Dogs”, or say “I hate blacks”. I wonder if ‘O’ checked to see the sign-up date of the posters. I am sure he did, but mentioning that they signed up minutes before posting those comments, does not a news story make.
Dear Bill O’Reilly:
Haven’t watched you since I saw you interview John O’Neill. I watched you daily before that.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
MarineBrat
Yes, here's Melanie with an Iraqi General (Jassim) during one of MAF's 2 trips to Iraq:
I sure wish Bill didn't respond to popular sentiment on the war (and polls) and instead recognized the consequence of failure, and losing to al-Qaida there.
The man has no core beliefs. His positions are all over the map, chosen to maximize controversy and ratings.
I liked him about the first two weeks I watched him. After that I wised up and have ignored him ever since.
No good comes of paying attention to an attention-whore.
BOR’s half-life should have never exceeded that of the pet rock.
“Face it, FR used to be a LOT worse. As a matter of fact, a lot of old-timers left because we became too tame.”
True, it wasn’t overtly hateful, but there was a lot of bombast and flaming. Trolls were hotly roasted. I sort of miss some of it as we have lost some of the heat and brilliance in discussions due to the moderator effect.
We still have the best minds around posting and one can obtain a free college course on a lot of topics. I’ve been a daily reader since the year 2000 election.
“BOR can kiss my entire patoot.”
OH NOOOOOO! You played right into his hands! That was so mean spirited and hateful!
/sarc off
Who? :)
Thanks to Melanie Morgan. I have FReeped side-by-side with her more than once and she was with us on C-Span March 2000. We all need to write to O’Reilly.
By the way - howdy Impeach 98!
Thanks to Melanie Morgan. I have FReeped side-by-side with her more than once and she was with us on C-Span March 2000. We all need to write to O’Reilly.
By the way - howdy Impeach 98!
Because the issue isn’t Bill O’Reilly. It’s about whether to allow him to unfairly smear Free Republic, and not standing up and speaking out in Free Republic’s defense.
*waves back from Sacramento*
Way to go Melanie...MAF and FR rock!!!!
I watch while Bill did the segment - surprised me that he came up with ‘posts’ to sight as this site cleans up posts practically immediately and since anyone can initially join, all kinds of strange stuff can creep into the treads.
I say - a great job is being done at freerepublic.com, especially compared to the other political sites. Bill is right of center, most of the time.
1999 was a wild ride here. We were blowing up almost every day.
You can generally read a site’s worth by looking at what is posted there and then the reactions to the negative posts. Yes, FreeRepublic has had it’s share of negative posts, but after each one other posters came along to condemn that which was inappropriate.
The leftist sights have negative posts. They are bound to. What you don’t see is an objection to them. About all you see is kudos for the person who made the post, and then perhaps an addendum that degenerates still lower. Much of this is categorized as shockingly inappropriate.
During the whole Clinton Presidence I don’t remember anyone advocating Clinton die. Can’t remember how many times I’ve seen it said that Bush should be.
FR is tame compared the leftist sites. Reason generally rules here. It seldom does over there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.